


Demons

by Russ (Quasar)



Series: Time Heals [6]
Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Gen, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-02
Updated: 2014-08-02
Packaged: 2018-02-11 11:06:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2065776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quasar/pseuds/Russ
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Simon visits Blair in the hospital after he was dosed with Golden.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Demons

**Author's Note:**

> Written March 1998. Takes place after the episode "Blind Man's Bluff" and also includes reference to "Light My Fire." Not that I altered the order of episodes slightly from the aired order, because it makes good head-canon.

Simon stopped by the hospital before he went home. It was on the way, after all. And he did feel responsible for the kid, even if there was nothing he could have done to prevent Sandburg from being hurt.

He had no sooner gotten off the elevator on Sandburg's floor than a nurse looked up from the station. "Oh -- is it Captain Banks?"

"Yes," he said cautiously, expecting a phone call summoning him back to the station for some emergency.

"You're here for Mr. Sandburg, right?"

"Why, is there something wrong?"

"No -- it's just that he's awake, and he's very agitated. The doctor thought perhaps a familiar face . . ."

Simon was heading for Sandburg's room before the nurse had finished.

A doctor was speaking as he arrived at the door. "Mr. Sandburg, if you could just calm down a moment and answer some questions --"

Blair was trying to sit up despite the restraining hand against his chest. "No -- I have to get back. My partner needs me. Simon!" he exclaimed as he saw the captain. "Where's Jim? You have to help him!"

Relieved that the kid at least recognized him, Simon came up next to the bed and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Jim's at the station," he said in the most soothing tone he could manage.

"No! He's in the warehouse. It's burning! You have to get him out of there!"

Simon frowned. That sounded like an arson case from a few weeks ago. "Sandburg, he got out of the warehouse just fine. Remember? You saw him come out."

Blair froze for a minute, staring at some inner scene. Then he became agitated again. "No! It wasn't Jim. It was -- there were two of them. They came out of the fire, and they had grey skin. Their skin was ash! Oh god, they were ash, but they were walking!" He pressed a hand to his mouth.

The doctor was reaching for a hypodermic. Simon held up a hand. "Let me see if I can calm him down first," he murmured. "Sandburg -- Blair. Jim's fine, I promise. Your mind's a little confused because you got dosed with some drugs. But if you concentrate, I'm sure you can remember."

Blair stared up at him anxiously, mouth open as if he could drink in the meaning of Simon's words.

"Jim went into the warehouse, and then it caught on fire. But he had those special fire suits that Deborah Reeves' father made. You remember those? He and Deborah put on the suits and walked out of the fire safely. You were just confused a little at first. Do you remember?"

"Suits," Blair mumbled. "Yeah, I remember the suits. Yeah, okay." He took a deep breath. "You sure Jim's all right? Because I could swear I saw --" he frowned, trying to remember something.

"Jim's fine. He's down at the station filling out forms."

Blair's gaze sharpened suddenly. "He's writing? He can see?"

"Well, a little. I told him if he could see enough to drive my car, he could see enough to fill out the damage claims. But I think he was reading the forms with his fingers, if you know what I mean."

"He drove your car?"

"He _wrecked_ my car," Simon growled. "But he wasn't hurt, and he caught the bad guy he was after. The dealers of the Golden are going to jail, Sandburg. No one's going to get overdosed like you were, ever again."

"Golden . . . I got dosed with Golden?"

"It was on the pizzas that were delivered to the department that night."

"Pizza. Yeah, I remember. The card said it was from Chief Warren."

"That was a lie. But you were the only one who ate the pizza, so there's no harm done as long as you get better, okay?"

Blair shook his head. "No, wait. I saw . . . I had a gun. Simon!" He clutched the captain's arm tightly. "I shot at Jim! I shot Jim, didn't I?"

"No! No, Sandburg, I promise you Jim's all right. You were hallucinating, and you did fire the gun a few times, but you didn't hit anyone. Jim took the gun away from you."

"I pointed it right at him," Blair gasped.

"But you didn't pull the trigger. No one got hurt. Look, you wanna talk to Jim? We can call the station right now." Simon pulled out his cell phone.

The doctor was hovering at his elbow. "Sir, I have to make an examination --"

Simon rounded on the smaller man. "Person, place and time -- isn't that what you guys worry about? Sandburg knows who he is and where he is, he's just a little confused about how he got here. You can do your tests later, now let's just get him straightened out." Simon pressed the speed dial. "Yeah, Delia, could you connect me to Jim Ellison please? Jim. I'm at the hospital. There's somebody here who wants to talk to you."

Sandburg clutched the phone like a life preserver. "Jim? . . . Yeah . . . All right . . . No, what about you? . . . Your eyes? . . . Uh-huh . . . How? . . . Really? That's great, man! I told you it would work!"

Simon smiled at the sound of the familiar Sandburg enthusiasm returning.

"No . . . No, you shouldn't push it . . . You are _not_ driving home! Simon told me you totaled his car! Get a ride with Joel . . . Yeah . . . Jim, wait. Are you okay? . . . No, I mean, I can't remember -- I didn't _do_ anything, did I? . . . Really? . . . Yeah, I'd like that . . . Okay, see you in a few . . . Yeah, bye." He closed the cell phone and handed it back to Simon, his movements much less frenetic than they had been just a minute before. "He's going to stop by here and say hi, help me remember what happened. He can really see now?"

"Not perfectly, but I think it's safe to say he's getting better. Now, I believe the doctor wanted to ask you some more questions."

"Oh, yeah. Sure, whatever." Sandburg sank back against his pillows, visibly deflating now that his fears were allayed. Simon doubted the kid would stay awake long enough to see Jim arrive, but he wasn't laying any bets when it came to those two.

As Simon left, the doctor was asking Sandburg what he saw and how much he remembered and whether he could spell "snow." Simon shook his head, thinking of all the times he had seen the kid walk into danger for Jim's sake. Offering to go after drug dealers with a blind man for a partner, for God's sake! Even the hallucinations that had terrified the kid in the garage had apparently come from a memory of Jim getting caught in a fire. It was as if Sandburg wasn't afraid of anything except danger to his partner. And Jim was just as crazy, refusing to let a little thing like blindness stop him -- the only time he had seemed really upset during this whole case was when Sandburg was sick.

Simon left the hospital wondering how two people so obviously insane had turned into his best team.


End file.
